Slaphappy
by LashknifeTalon
Summary: As unusual as it is, CiusFear fluff. Rated T for excessive amounts of language and nothing else. Slaphappy refers to a state of being very sleep deprived and hyper.


-1Well…My first fanfic and it's a fluff fic. Go figure. This would really fit in several places in the game, really anyplace after Van Castle I II sequence, when it first becomes possible to get Perisie. I personally place it immediately after getting the Moore Emblem myself.

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A wise man once told Cius that exercise was an excellent aid for sleep. If one exercised, one would become tired, and then fall asleep.

Cius thought that man was full of shit.

He'd been outside for two hours now, swinging that huge monstrosity of a sword Ratix had bought him a couple of weeks ago (called it a "zweihander" or something) pretty much non-stop, making toothpicks out of the local trees, and Cius STILL didn't feel the least bit tired.

Well, correction, he still couldn't fall asleep. He was REALLY tired…his arms felt like they were made of lead, his legs ached from constantly shifting from one position to the next, following through on cut after cut after cut…but still he couldn't fall asleep.

It really _didn't _make any sense. Under most circumstances, three rather lengthy encounters with monsters would've had Cius snoring in the cave Ratix had declared their campsite for the night along with the others… Perisie cuddled up with her precious ocarina in her makeshift nest of leaves and borrowed clothing… Iria…who tried so very hard to hide the fact that she ALWAYS just _happened _to end up in the spot next to the captain… Milly…not trying at all to hide the fact that she was very obviously asleep in Ratix's lap…Ratix himself…sleeping leaned against the cave wall… Marvel…who was off…somewhere…keeping watch or whatever it was that Marvel did at night… and then there was the disheveled lump against the back of the cave.

Cius grunted disapprovingly. If only that lump had just stayed in Astral…if that lump hadn't convinced her liege to allow her to join Van's Anti-Demon Force… then maybe Cius could've actually gotten some sleep. But…she had. And now…Cius just couldn't stop thinking about her. _Dreaming _about her. How could he help himself really? The auburn hair upon her head…eyes black as soot yet burning hot as the fires of hell…short, cute little tail…

"Cius? What the hell are you doing up at this hour?"

Cius nearly dropped his sword. Not her. Did it have to be _her _that his training woke up? Make it Marvel…make it Milly…hell, make it a MONSTER he woke up. Anyone but…

"Fear…" Cius breathed, turning around.

As he feared…before Cius stood a fit, yet unusually short highlander woman. Well…short for a highlander, anyway.

"I repeat…what the hell are you doing up at this hour? It's fucking four in the morning!"

Fear…with her uncanny sense of time again. Cius tried to remain calm.

"I couldn't sleep. That's all. You can go back to bed. I'll…"

"Nonsense! If you're going to stay up all night, I should at least keep ya' company or something. And if all your hacking about happens to wake up the one of local beasts, I want to be around to beat the shit out of it."

"Besides," she added, producing a finely polished set of shortswords from the belt wrapped around her slim waist, "it wouldn't do to have a slacker like you outclass one of the Astral Knights in skill. I think I'll stay up and train with you."

Almost before she finished her sentence, Fear's blades were in motion. They flew through the air, landing in the branchless trunk that had been a tree before Cius had decided to use it as cutting practice. The swords slashed deep into the side of the tree before bouncing back into Fear's hands, who caught all three just as gracefully as she threw them.

Cius felt his heart miss a beat. It tended to do that every time he actually got a good look at Fear fighting. He knew it was odd, but still…

"Just like old times, huh?"

Cius tried his very hardest to talk through the lump in his throat. Why was it that the very source of his insomnia had to come and torment him so? Had the gods decreed at some point that he was never to sleep again?

"Y-yeah."

"You know…I never imagined that we'd end up traveling together again. Not after you deserted the Knights."

Cius bit back a groan. Did she have to bring up the topic of his past? He supposed he could get back into his huge argument about how he never felt he was strong enough to live up to his father's legacy…blah blah blah… but…all that came out was,

"Eh."

"Eh? Is that all the argument you can manage, you pussy? What happened to Warren and your quest for inner strength and everything?"

"Well…" Cius thought about arguing, but between sleep deprivation draining his ability to form coherent logic and being tired of arguing with Fear on this topic, all he managed to get out was another "eh" and a shrug.

"Eh? Again? What's up with you? Cat got your tongue? Too retarded to form an argument?"

Cius sighed. He really wished that he could just be somewhere else…well…that wasn't entirely true. If he really was honest with himself…right here, standing next to Fear was really the only place he really wanted to be…but…He wished he wasn't so tired…maybe…then…

Fear blinked. "Maybe then…what?"

Had he been vocalizing his thoughts in his tired state? Cius cursed under his breath. Actually, from Fear's resulting giggle, he'd probably failed to control his volume and cursed rather loudly, but in his current state…

"Oh? Is that a retort after all?"

Part of Cius hoped she hadn't actually caught what he'd said, just heard him muttering. Then again…if she had…maybe it would save him the trouble of…

"Save you the trouble of what? What the fuck are you muttering about?"

…Cius gave up. It really wasn't worth it to try to hide it any longer. If he kept vocalizing he'd just give himself away in such a manner that Fear would just deride him all the more…and to all the better effect, considering he wasn't awake enough to respond to anything she said.

"I give up. I'm muttering about why I can't sleep, Fear."

Strangely enough, the only response this got from Fear was a cocked head and a quizzical look.

"I…I think…"

Damn. It wasn't often that Cius was at a loss for words. Usually when he didn't know what to say, he just didn't say anything. He didn't have such a luxury now.

Fear slowly sauntered over to Cius' side.

"Is it something I can help with?" she said, resting her hand on her hip.

Cius blinked, trying to clear his head and speak clearly. He failed. His next sentence came out garbled as all hell, about as logical as the ravings of a drunkard. Not that Cius wasn't prone to those kinds of ravings himself from time to time, but he was pretty sure he wasn't drunk. Funny thing though…he felt kind of intoxicated every time he tried to make eye contact with Fear.

"…Cius? Are you okay? Did some bugger hit you on the head in one of the scuffles we had earlier today?" Fear reached for Cius' black-locked head. Cius tried to recoil, denying Fear's theory…but…Well, recoil escaped him there.

"Th-that's not the problem, really…um…well.."

"Then what's the problem? Can I help?"

Cius quivered a bit. He couldn't stand it on the rare occasion that Fear had one of her helpful moods. He'd nearly melted where he stood when she'd done it at Astral Castle, eloquently convincing her liege to allow her to join the Anti-Demon Force…He'd left Ratix and Ronixis to talk out that one. He hadn't been able to squeeze words out of his throat. Much like now. But nonetheless…if he was planning on getting any sleep tonight, he had to speak.

"Erm…Fear? Can I ask ya a question?" he stammered out.

Fear actually seemed to be taken aback by this. She stepped back, giving Cius some breathing room.

"Uh…yeah. Sure. Go ahead."

Cius shut his eyes for a moment, praying to the gods that he wouldn't sound too random.

"Fear…why did you join the Anti-Demon…whatchamacallit. Why did you join us?"

Fear paused a moment at this before speaking. "Well…I suppose it's because…I felt it was the right thing to do. You follow your instincts, right? Well, I'll just follow mine when I fucking well please, you know?"

Cius swallowed hard.

"Uh…Fear…did you have maybe some…ulterior motives?"

"Ulterior…motives? Big words for a vagabond like you."

"Please…Fear…can you just answer the question?"

Again this gave Fear pause. "Ulterior motives…like what?"

"Well…maybe…like…um…" Cius ran his hair through his hair, much like Fear had a moment ago, with perhaps a tad bit more nervousness.

Fear giggled, a sound you didn't often hear coming from someone as…foul-tempered as Fear.

"Cius…are you trying to tell me something?" She giggled again. Cius felt a bit faint.

"Well…um…"

"Is the source of your…distress around here?"

Cius couldn't do anything but nod.

"Well," she giggled. "Could you point at it?"

Cius hesitated for a bit, then decided he might as well. He pointed straight at Fear.

"Oh? Me?"

A nod.

"_I'm _keeping you up?"

So far so good…Fear sounded…amused, if nothing else. Well…she did…until they both stopped speaking in their first shared awkward silence since they were but little children.

Finally: "Cius…is that what this is all about?"

"…"

"Cius…you know I don't approve of what you did back then…of leaving the Knights…but…We've been friends since we were little kids. What's a little spat between friends? Did you honestly think I would love you any less for leaving to chase the very strength that brought us together in the first place?"

Cius couldn't help but fall over then.

"Did you just say you…"

Fear smiled, another rare occurrence.

"Can you get some rest now, Cius?" She said, sitting down on the soft grass and patting her lap. "Here. I'll even give ya a pillow."

"…Fear? Are you serious?"

"Bitch! Get to sleep! Don't test my patience!"

Well…who was Cius to argue? He rest his head on Fear's lap.

"Such an odd… yawn …reversal of roles…" he muttered, pointing vaguely at Milly and Ratix, both soundly asleep.

Fear shrugged. "Bah. You asked why I joined up with you guys? Well…someone's got to babysit a weakling like you."

"Mmph." Was all the response he had. He wasn't in any mood to argue. They'd definitely debate who was stronger in the morning, that was sure, but…for now, sleep was all that was on Cius' mind. He closed his eyes and relaxed, feeling Fear lying down underneath his head. Maybe he would dream of her as he slept. Maybe she would dream of him as she slept. He rather hoped so.


End file.
